Improvement in devices for medicinal inhalation



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. MORRISON, OF BELLAIRE, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEVICES FOR MEDICINAL INHALATION.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,058, dated December30, 1879; application filed May 17,1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES F. MORRISON, of Bellaire, in the county ofBelmont and State of Ohio, have invented a new and use ful Improvementin Devices for Medicinal Inhalation, which is fully described in thefollowing specification.

Certain herbs, such as belladonna and stramonium, have been and are usedfor giving relief to persons afflictcd with spasmodic asthma.

The common methods of employing such herbs is by burning them andpermitting asthmatic persons to inhale the fumes. Three modes have beenpracticed in applying the herbs for the purpose stated. One modeconsists in taking a small quantity of the dried herbs, placing themupon a plate of metal, or a disk of porcelain, then igniting them, andwith the hands, or any improvised funnel, guiding the fumes of theburning herbs to the mouth and nostrils to be inhaled. Another methodconsists in saturating slips of common paper in a decoction of theherbs, then drying the slips so treated, and using them by inhaling thefumes when they are burning. Another method consists in using the herbsby smoking them in a common pipe or in the form of cigarettes. All thesemethods of employing the herbs are defective.

The soaked paper slips described are convenicnt for use; but theycannotbe, and are never, charged with a sufficient strength of the medicinalproperties of the herbs to render them quick and efficient in givingrelief to afliicted persons. The loose herbs to be burned openly upon aporcelain or other plate are inconvenient to carry and applyy andrespecting the third mode, it is sufiicient to state that personssuddenly attacked with asthma cannot well smoke pipes or cigarettes, andthey are unsuited for children.

My improvement combines the virtues or benefits and convenience of theprepared paper slips described and the direct strong fumes of theburning herbs, and the difficult operation of smoking is not involvednor required.

My invention consists in securing thin layers or sheets of the medicinalherbs in fixed flat sheaths of paper, which can be conveniently carriedin the pocket ready prepared, and which can be used instantly byigniting them, and then inhaling the direct fumes of the herbs.

To prepare my remedy I take sheets of any good porous paper and cut theminto slips of about three inches in length and two inches in Width. Eachsuch slip is doubled and folded lengthwise, and a thin layer of the dryherbs is inclosed in the whole length of the fold; then the slip issealed at the edges with any suitable paste or gum, and, when dried, itis ready for use.

Each fixed herb-sheath so made is a most convenient and effective deviceto be carried in the pocket ready for immediate use. By simply holdingit in the hand and igniting it with a match, its fumes can be easilydirected and inhaled, so as to afford the common relief sought byafflicted persons from such agencies. The full strength of the fumes ofthe herbs is thus secured and applied with all the convenience of thesimple paper slips.

The paper sheaths which I make are first prepared by soaking the sheetsof paper in a weak solution of the nitrate of potash, (and the herbsthemselves may also be so treated;) then they are dried for subsequentoperations.

My device burns very slowly and steadily until the herbs are consumed.The devices thus made are also very convenient for packing and carriageas mercantile commodities.

Various medicinal herbs may be inclosed in such fixed sheaths and madein the same way to afford relief or effect cures in persons atflictedwith other diseases besides asthma.

I claim- The asthma remedy described, consisting of medicinal herbsinclosed in sealed flat sheaths of paper impregnated with the nitrate ofpotash, as set forth, and for the purposes stated.

' J AMES F. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

W. B. GILMOR, JOHN S. GILL.

